Fabio Capello has told Andy Carroll he must shape up on and off the pitch to win back his England place.

Just months after being hailed by Capello as “the future” of the Three Lions, Carroll could not even make the bench in Bulgaria and is struggling to be among the subs against Wales tomorrow.

Capello said: “He needs to find good form. Against Bulgaria I chose 25 players and decided that the first 11 would be the players who were, for me, in the best moment of form.

“Andy didn’t play the last game with Liverpool and probably he is not at the top. Also he is big. He needs to play games, games, games. It’s the start of the season.

“In this moment, some players are really good and run a lot. In the last 20 minutes we had everything – ball possession, chances to score – because we were still fresh.

“When these players, like Andy, will be fit, at the top of their form, they will be important.”

Carroll made his debut against France in November and then scored his first England goal in the friendly with Ghana in March – 24 hours after a public warning over his drinking.

In March Capello said: “I think not only Andy likes to drink beer. Not only Andy. But he needs to improve, to drink less.

“His behaviour now is really important. He needs to be careful at every moment. When you play with England, you are the focus of the fans, the ­newspapers, the ­photographers, the people that live around him.”

Since then, Carroll’s summer holidays saw him captured on camera guzzling in Barbados, Ibiza and at the Glastonbury Festival, none of which overly impressed the England boss.

Carroll still could be involved against Wales after Darren Bent was forced to withdraw from the squad with the groin injury that has prevented him training ­properly.

Manchester City’s Micah Richards was also sent home with a hamstring problem.